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Wife In Name Only by Hayson Manning

WIFE IN NAME ONLY by author Hayson Manning is
an Indulgence release by Entangled Publishing for April 2013.

After walking out on her husband and marriage,
Zoe now needs him for publicity purpose. But why did Rory agree to Zoe’s plans?

Does he want revenge on Zoe for walking out
on their marriage or does he want Zoe herself? Would Zoe give in to the
explosive chemistry between them?

Zoe had made her home on a Tongan island,
would Rory leave his jet-setting high profile life in LA and settle on the
island? Or would Zoe leave her island paradise to go and live with him in LA? After
all Zoe had secrets she hadn’t told him.

WIFE IN NAME ONLY is a sizzling romance set
in an island paradise. It is fast-paced and feel-good story that sparkles with
red-hot sensuality, mesmerizing emotion and intense passion. Hayson Manning, a
new to me author, brings this story filled with intrigue, danger and thrill as
well.

Every woman knows most successful men are married to their job and that usually leaves you with spending most of your time on your own. Your realize your husband loves you but just not as much as his job.

When and if you find the courage to walk away from it I personally think must be one of the hardest things to do. In this read from Hayson Manning the author shows the courage of one woman that does exactly that and also shows how she rebuilds her life up to the point where she needs her husband to step in and help to secure what has fought so hard to build.

The characters of Rory and Zoe were well written and both showed strong qualities of fighting for what they want and not giving up when it comes to work however when it came to their marriage neither one really put any effort into it and as said Zoe up's and leaves, but I could understand the reasoning behind it all.

I liked that the author showed that it takes real courage to walk away from a marriage when there really is no marriage, and that a woman can make it on her own. And yes I know what your thinking, but she cannot make it on her own because she needs her husband again at some point, but here is where the author showed that yes you can make it on your own however, there comes a point in time where standing alone is just no longer an option because you need the strength of a person stronger than you.

Rory was a complete idiot in the start with a real "all I want from my soon to be ex wife is sex because she blows my mind" attitude. But later the author shows him going from total jerk to real hero material as he saves Zoe in more ways than one, which tied in perfectly with the element of Zoe needing his strength.

The backdrop setting of the honeymoon island was perfect for these characters as it was if the author really showed me as reader that the characters are being thrown back into the first days of their marriage and a fresh start.

The dialogue was great except for all the swearing going on, I really felt annoyed that it was almost as if Rory could not say one sentence without getting crude. Yes, I could understand that certain situations in the book called for a swear word or two but other times I think a simple sentence would have done the trick and still delivered the message the author was trying to bring across.

I recommend this read for lovers of romance reads with a twist and believe me there is a twist and that is the thing that gets you going, then you will like this read and all I will say on the subject is think stalker! But yes if you think swearing breaks the romantic element as I did then this read is not for you.

4/5 star review" A island getaway that will clear the way to a romantic future"

Read in one sitting which to me means Wife in Name Only was a fast paced, catchy and riveting read.

My hero Zoe, owner of honeymoon resort in Tonga calls her ex husband in sheer desperation to keep up appearances to the outside world she's the other half of a successful and happy marriage with a world wide well known businessman Rory. Zoe is quite convinced her marriage is over, after all she did walk out of it with by her own choice and took off to the other side of the world. Rory however has different ideas, his marriage is not over and when Zoe calls out of the blue he takes the opportunity in both hands to go and bring her home, thus beginning a rollicking read full of humor, adventure, mystery and second chances.

Why is Zoe my hero? She left her marriage because she was brave enough to leave what seemed to be a loveless marriage and face life on her own. She didn't stay just for the sake of not being along. Zoe was almost in what we refer to as the First Wives Club. The ones that stand by their man when they grow from nothing to something then the husbands move on. Rory did grow from nothing to something and Zoe's reflection of those times is heart-melting.

As a lover of second chance stories I was fully invested in Rory wanting to go back and save his marriage. Poor guy had a hard time with this because he is a bit of an ass to Zoe in both attitude and his outlook on life. He cant understand why Zoe would want to stay on a godforsaken island in the middle of nowhere and so far removed from his central NY hub it couldn't be more different. The rest of us would think Zoe's actually in paradise.

I loved how Hayson Manning's descriptive writing placed me on that island, in the middle of the drama Zoe and Rory faced together. There were moments of total Laugh out Loudness and moments of heart-thumping terror and moments of shock, all rounded up into a fun read.

I googled Hayson Manning because she was a new author to me and I like to find out a bit of background. I was delighted to see she originally hails from my neck of the woods NZ! Congratulations on your first release Hayson.